Thought for the week

Cancellations and abandonments are the bane of football fans at this time of year. Well, cancellations, abandonments and ruddy freezing toes. Last January the late cancellation of an FA Cup fixture at Leyton Orient, discovered on the information boards at Leyton tube station at 2.15pm, was enough to drive me to a few choice expletives, and that was at a ground local enough for me to pop to the bookies and be back home in time to watch the second half of Soccer Saturday with Jeff Stelling.

Sympathy, then, has to be with the Barnsley fans who made the 300-mile five-and-a-half-hour journey (or 600-mile 11-hour round trip if you prefer) to Home Park on Saturday and should have been celebrating a crushing, and crucial, Championship victory over Plymouth Argyle on the way home only to be foiled by the torrential rain. With the Yorkshire side leading 4-1 with 58 minutes gone, the referee Gavin Ward abandoned the match.

In the aftermath, the Tykes were understandably upset. Their manager, Mark Robins, suggested had Plymouth been ahead by the same score the game would not have been called off. The official website described the decision as "scandalous" and suggested that Ward had "robbed" Barnsley of victory. The chairman, Patrick Cryne, believes that the 28-year-old referee was attempting to make a name for himself. But it's not exactly controversial to suggest that Barnsley wouldn't have made quite the same brouhaha had they been 4-1 down. Their mood will not have been improved by the news that, while all other statistics get wiped out, Nathan Doyle's yellow card stands, meaning a ban for the midfielder.

Ultimately, though, with the rain getting biblical just after the abandonment, Ward made the correct decision, though perhaps in the wrong way. With the ball holding up in the centre circle, the referee appeared to unilaterally abandon the game. He claimed to have made the decision with consideration to players' safety, and though he clearly stuck to the FA guidance that "the safety of players … is paramount" he might have made more use of the advice that "If possible, players should be taken off the field of play until such time a final decision is made as to whether to continue or abandon" and that "Consultation and communication are the key factors".

Sod's law will almost certainly see Plymouth triumph in the rearranged fixture, of course. It's infuriating for Barnsley but is there an alternative? Start the rearranged game at 58 minutes with the scores as they were? They do it in Spain. Let the scoreline stand? It's happened at least twice before – Derby v Fulham in 1983 and Barrow v Gillingham in 1961 – but does it run the risk of leaving results at the mercy of pitch invasions and floodlight failures?

The early finish at Home Park wasn't the only abandonment of the weekend. Chester City's Blue Square Premier fixture with Eastbourne Borough was called off after 72 minutes on police advice following an on-pitch protest by City's fans against the owners of the club. It may prove to be Chester's final fixture in existence. David Conn covered the issue in his Inside Sport blog last week and a pretty comprehensive background to the sorry saga at the Deva Stadium can be found on the ever-excellent twohundredpercent site in five instalments (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five). The club faced a deadline over debts yesterday and their fate now seems set to be decided on Thursday.

One to watch out for

Victor Moses, Crystal Palace

I'm hardly flagging up a complete unknown here – Moses was getting rave reviews aeons ago. On Saturday, though, he lived up to the hype – something he has regularly failed to do this season – scoring one and creating another in the Eagles' win over Watford. Neil Warnock reckons "the first club to gamble on him will have a jewel on their hands". But with Palace now unbeaten in six and beginning to hint at a competitive season surely now is not yet the time to cash in.

Games to look forward to

Brentford v Colchester (League One, today) The top four are all away from home this evening – it could be something of a crunch night. The trip to Griffin Park is a chance for Aidy Boothroyd's side to confirm their status as genuine promotion contenders.

Notts County v Darlington (League Two, today) County have won just one of their last eight in League Two. They desperately need to buck that trend at home against rock-bottom Darlington (away record: P9 W0 D1 L8).

Nottingham Forest v Leicester (Championship, Saturday) Third v fourth and an east Midlands derby to boot. Leicester have lost once in their last nine, Forest are unbeaten in 10.

Leeds v Huddersfield (League One, Saturday) Another derby day at the top of the table.